


Apex Predator

by kinglyace



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Daemons, Gen, mentions of cannibalism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-05-26 13:44:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15002123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinglyace/pseuds/kinglyace
Summary: It might have been hard to believe, but the law of nature did not exclude daemons. They were as beholden to the food chain as any other creature on Eos.The question was though: Who preys on the daemons?Prompto gets a face-to-face meeting with one of those rare predators.





	1. The First Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> I had a thought about daemons and then that turned into a dream and now it's this hot mess of a hopefully short fic. Also, I swear that one of the bros won't get eaten.

 

            Had anyone told Prompto he would eventually find himself stuck at the bottom of a cliff, cradling an injured comrade in the middle of the night with freezing rain and daemons lurking just beyond his hiding spot, he would have called bullshit.

            And yet here he was, doing just that.

“Hey Iggy, you ready to wake up yet?” Prompto asked between chattering teeth for what seemed to be the tenth time, but his only response was quiet and shallow breathing. Ignis had hit his head hard when they both landed but surely, he should have come to by now. Or maybe it was the blood loss keeping him down- there was so much of it caked down the side of his face and across his back, not to mention the probably _massive_ amounts of internal damage his broken leg was causing. And at this point, Prompto was afraid to use one of the potions he’d managed to snag from the armiger before they ran out because broken bones _never_ healed right.

            So instead he sat, shielded only the slight overhang of a couple boulders with a steep cliff to his right and a raging, rain fueled river to his left. He couldn’t leave Ignis behind, nor could he haul both of them up the cliff face. His only option was to hide and pray to the Astrals that Noctis and Gladio found them first.

            An hour more and it was clear the Six had no intention of granting him the tiniest mercy because now there were several puddles of daemonic goo forming no more than twenty feet away from him. The familiar groan of half-formed daemons came first, followed by the tell-tale scrape of newly formed limbs clawing against the wet and rocky ground. There was at least two Flans, half a dozen Goblins and… well _of course_ there was two Mindflayers. Prompto didn’t consider himself a strategist, but even he knew the odds were heavily stacked against him.

            He only had six shots in his revolver before he’d need to access the armiger to reload and the daemons converged on his position. The Mindflayers wouldn’t be able to get to him, but the Flan and Goblins could weasel themselves in just fine. Then there was the fact that he couldn’t _move._ He was pinned in on all sides and he couldn’t move out of the way without alerting the daemons or leaving Ignis defenseless. It was only 2:30 am last he checked… which meant at least four more hours until sunrise.

            So his only option was to keep quiet and hope _really hard_ that the daemons just wouldn’t see him- which lasted all of six seconds until a goblin screeched and lunged for his hiding space.

“Shit,” was all Prompto could say before he fumbled to free his arm from under Ignis. His gun materialized with the familiar sound of shattering glass, drawing the attention of the other daemons. He tried to cover Ignis’ ears with his free hand, a poor attempt to save his hearing while Prompto fired off three shots in quick succession. One Flan and two Goblins fell, crumpling to the ground and dissolving back into sticky goo. Now the Mindflayer’s knew he was here, but they were staying back- hoping he would come out of his hiding place where they could get to them.

            Another two shots and two Goblins fell before they could reach the boulders. The two remaining Flans weren’t in his line of sight- they must have been trying to circle around the boulders and find another way through.

            There was cackling above him and Prompto shot- one less Goblin to deal with. The other was dancing around, switching from peering in the main opening between the boulders and trying to squeeze in elsewhere.

            Prompto had one shot left before he needed to reload. He could either take the last Goblin out and try to beat away the Flans in close quarters, or run from his spot and hope to god he could draw them away from Ignis.

            Prompto did not get the chance to decide for himself.

 

There was a roll of thunder and suddenly lightning broke the sky above him, illuminating the two Mindflayers as they were grabbed by something _much_ bigger than them. They screamed and writhed, until a terrible crunching noise rent the air and suddenly Prompto found himself wishing he’d saved his bullets. Another flash of white light and he saw it- just barely, but he could make out the form of something as big as a Giant bent over the gooey remains of the daemons. It was slurping at the plasmodia essence, a blackened tongue swiping over fresh corpses while several glowing yellow eyes cut through the darkness. It had four arms and a giant pair of antlers that looked more akin to giant clawed hands.

            Then it lifted its great head towards the boulders and Prompto froze. The Flans and Goblin that had been heckling him had disappeared, leaving himself and Ignis as a veritable sacrifice for _whatever the fuck this was_.

            It started moving towards him, great hands digging into the ground as the head swiveled back and forth. Prompto caught sight of its lower half- it had legs like that of a moose, with giant cloven hooves that could easily crush his body.

            He was so fucked over- there was no way he could outrun this beast and one bullet wouldn’t kill it. Even a shot at point black range to the head wouldn’t work- the skull would have to be thick and heavy to support a pair of antlers like that.

            Prompto didn’t have long to think over his demise. The _thing_ came to a stop in front of his hiding spot and took hold of the boulders with two hands and _ripped_ them from the ground as if they were nothing. Prompto fell back as rain came down upon him, arm raised and searching for a weak spot. He wasn’t going down without a fight!

            He pulled the trigger as one of the beast’s hands came down, watching as the bullet ripped through the soft meat of its palm and roared in pain.

            It wasted no time in grabbing at him with one of its uninjured hands, fingers wrapping around him tight enough to choke him. He was lifted high into the air, until he found himself looking at an array of bright yellow eyes and a jagged mouth full of sharp and blacked teeth.

            The _thing_ growled, inclining its head until one bulbous eye was right next to his face. It was probably thinking how much it was going to enjoy eating Prompto.

“PROMPTO! IGNIS!”

            Prompto struggled and looked to the cliff, where he saw twin beams of light bouncing through the undergrowth. He opened his mouth to call for them, but the creatures hand flexed and all Prompto did was wheeze.

            It growled again and turned to look at the prone form of Ignis upon the ground, lead lowering until its stained muzzle was flush to his face. It nudged at him, exhaling hot air over the unconscious strategist. Was it trying to check if he was alive?

            Another shout from the cliff and suddenly the creature was moving, wrapping two hands delicately around Ignis and lifting him up. It slowly shuffled around, hobbling with one free hand to the cliff side. Then it rose on its hind legs, digging its hand into the wet earth to stabilize itself until its chest cleared the cliff edge.

            It dumped Prompto onto the ground without a second thought, letting him tumble into the brush and scratch himself on brambles. He tried to get his footing again quickly, reaching into the armiger blindly for anything to stave off the beast.

            It only huffed at him, lifting itself higher onto the cliff so it could lay Ignis down. The creature was gentler this time, even going so far as to pat his head before withdrawing away.

_What the fuck?_

 

Before Prompto could question what he was seeing further, the creature sunk down the cliff again as two familiar beams of light burst through the brush behind him. He barely registered Noctis grabbing his arm and asking if he was okay.

“Please tell me you saw that thing?” He asked, blinking fast as the cooling rush of a potion washed over him. There was naught but darkness beyond the cliff edge.

“If it was a daemon, I’d rather not stick around and find out,” Gladio interjected. He was kneeling next to a prone Ignis, peeling his bloody jacket away and looking grim.

“He’s messed up bad. Potions aren’t going to do shit for him.”

“Bu-“

“Not now Prompto. Let’s go before the daemons come back.”

 

           

 


	2. The Second Instance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guys might not believe Prompto about what he saw, but he certainly knows what happened that night next to the Wennath River. Just as he decides to try and gather his own information, he was another unfortunate run-in with said creatures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very tired and I seem only able to work on this in hyper-focused bursts late at night. But hopefully the length makes up for how long it's been? Hahaha...ha...ha

 

“I’m telling you guys, we were down the cliff and some weird creature came out of nowhere and saved us. C’mon Iggy, back me up!”

“Prompto, for the fifth time I was _unconscious_. The last thing I remember was trying to keep _you_ from falling over the cliff.”

            They were settled in the spare rooms of Cape Caem, clustered around the bed Iggy was lying in while rain fell outside. Monica and Dustin had managed to patch him up with spare potions, but his leg would have to heal naturally. Which meant a cast and plenty of bed rest- a concept Ignis Scientia was having trouble applying to himself.

“Just give it up Blondie. You were probably just seeing things with that concussion you had,” Gladio interjected over his book.

“I wasn’t, but okay…” Prompto sighed dejectedly, slumping in his chair. Noctis shot him a sympathetic look and nudged him with one shoulder.

“Hey, wanna play some King’s Knight?”

            It was tempting. If the guys weren’t going to believe him and they were going to be cooped up in the Cape for a while, he might as well take the chance to get some prime gaming in. But another part of him ached to prove himself right- because he _did_ see that creature next to Wennath River.

“Nah, I’m good. Um, I think I’m gonna take a walk instead,” Prompto replied, standing and stretching.

“Dude, it’s still raining out.”

“Hey, that just means I’ll get a shower in as well!”

“Prompto, if you are going outside, please put a proper jacket on. There’s no point in having _two_ of us out of commission,” Ignis suggested in a tone that was closer to ‘you had better listen or even the Astrals won’t be able to save you’.

“You got it Igster. I’ll be back before you know it!” Prompto shot back with a smile and finger guns.

            True to his word, Prompto put on a proper coat before stepping out into the brisk rain. It was cold and struck like needles on his exposed skin, smelling of salt from the coast and wet dirt beneath him. There was nothing but thick rolling clouds of dark grey above him, but a quick glance at his phone told Prompto it was nearing night again. He still had a little time and the cute merchant girl was still near the road. Maybe he could snag an Ebony for Ignis.

            By the time Prompto had made it to the base of the hill, careful to not slip in the mud, the clouds had deepened until they were naught but a black mass above him. The poor cart seller was huddled under her umbrella, wrapped in a jacket and nursing a steaming cup of tea with an open book in her lap. She was quick to smile at Prompto, offering a friendly wave as he came close.

“Hiya! What can I do for you?”

“Got any Ebony? I kinda owe it to my buddy,” Prompto asked and the woman nodded eagerly.

“Yup! Lemme just dig it out!” She leaned back in her chair, digging around in the cooler. The book on her knee slipped, flipped forward and would have planted in the mud had Prompto not quickly caught it in his hand.

“Oh my gosh, thank you! I don’t know what’d I do if I had to replace that!” the woman exclaimed as Prompto flipped the book back over. He paused, eyes darting over the rough illustration printed on the yellowed pages.

            It was the creature from last night, he was sure. The illustration had the same hunched posture, with cloven rear hooves and four massive clawed arms jutting from its chest. The antlers were wide and large, adorned with more than a dozen boney spines. And the eyes… Prompto would have recognized those vibrant yellow eyes anywhere. He shuddered at the sight of its maw, drawn as wide open and baring several rows of jagged teeth. It was vaguely cervine in shape, like a moose or overgrown deer but everything about the mouth screamed predator. What deer herbivore needed that many sharp, needling teeth? The only real difference here, was that in the illustration the creature was dripping in thick black goo oozing from every opening in its head.

“That’s the Forest Walker- it’s the local cryptid ‘round here. They say it only comes out at night to eat unaware travelers!” the woman chirped with a far-too-happy grin.

“Soooo, not just a fairy tale?” he asked, his eyes skipping over the sparse text.

“Man, I hope not! I’ve been searching for the Forest Walker for years! I just need to get some proof of it!” she exclaimed.

            Huh, maybe that’s what Prompto needed too. _Proof_.

 

~~~

 

            Day two of being stuck in Cape Caem and Prompto found himself eagerly volunteering to go with Gladio to the nearest gas station for fresh supplies. Ignis was going stir-crazy already and frankly, Prompto didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his eventual meltdown from cabin fever. It would only be a couple hours at most- not long enough the fully diffuse Ignis’ temper but the reprieve was welcome.

            Or it was _supposed_ to be.

 

The sun was setting behind them and a storm was forming before them, with the Regalia speeding over the black roads and headlights bouncing off the guardrails. They were cutting it close, with flashes of materializing daemons catching Prompto’s eyes from the underbrush.

“Hey, I didn’t get to say this yesterday but you did a good job covering Iggy’s ass,” Gladio suddenly said, one hand reaching out to rest on Prompto’s shoulder. Warmth bubbled in Prompto’s stomach, and he couldn’t help but flash a toothy smile back at the Shield.

“Aw, it wasn’t anything special. I feel kinda bad cause he got hurt trying to help me,” Prompto tried to deflect but Gladio only squeezed his shoulder harder.

“Nah, you did great Prom- just like a Crownsguard should.”

            They fell into companionable silence, letting the dulcet tones of the radio fill the air. Prompto felt himself settling into the car seat, the leather warm and lulling him into a light doze. It wouldn’t hurt if he just shut his eyes for a tiny nap.

            He jerked, breath catching in his throat as he caught sight of a giant black blur barreling for them from beyond the road.

“Gladio watch out!” he screeched, pressing himself into the seat as Gladio swore and tried to swerve out of the way. It was a valiant, if ultimately useless, attempt.

 

            Metal screeched as it bent inward, collapsing under the weight of what appeared to be some imp with wings- a salpinx maybe- before the car swerved and jerked suddenly. They spun out as Gladio tried to shake the daemon from the Regalia, skipping over the asphalt as the sky opened up before them. Rain and lightning came down, highlighting a mob of goblins as the car caught and flipped.

            The world around the car became one big blur as the Regalia rolled into the ditch, the windshield cracking under pressure and Gladio’s yelling obscured by the sound of rending metal around them. The window next to Prompto exploded, spraying him with shards of mud stained glass. His seatbelt cut into his shoulder and hips, drawing lines of blood as the inertia tried to rip from his seat. His arm slammed into something and there was a definite _crack_ but his cry of pain was lost in the commotion.

            And suddenly the car stopped, it’s rear passenger side slamming into a rock jutting from the ditch side and jerking both Prompto and Gladio one more time. For several agonizing moments they sat, upside down, as the car groaned and slowly came to rest.

“You okay big guy?” Prompto finally asked, his voice shaking. His heart was hammering in his ears and throat, making everything so much harder to say. He risked a glance over, trying to crane his head and get a good look at Gladio.

“Fucking hell… I’m in one piece but I’m not going anywhere,” he wheezed out. Prompto couldn’t tell in the dark, but he suspected what was wrong: with them upside down, Gladio couldn’t get out. His legs were trapped under the steering wheel and dash, pinned and useless unless they somehow flipped the car. There was no way he could safely maneuver out.

            There was a surge of fear in Prompto’t gut, acidic and threatening to spill out of his mouth like bile. His heart was starting to beat faster, ramming against his ribs like a bird desperate to escape.

_No! C’mon think! You’re a Crownsguard, you were trained for this!_  Prompto argued to himself, trying to desperately calm his own immediate plan to panic.

“Can you reach your phone? We could call Monica and Dustin!” he suddenly blurted out, hope blossoming in his chest. They had a car and could easily reach them!

“Yeah, lemm- shit, I can’t find my phone,” Gladio grunted, trying to search the immediate area around him. Okay, so his phone had either been crushed in the crash or was stuck elsewhere in the car.

            A quick pat down of his own pants and Prompto found his own, slowly dying but still intact. If they could just make _one call-_

            Then, the ground shook. Faint enough to catch both Gladio and Prompto’s attention, their eyes drawn to the murky darkness beyond the Regalia’s fading lights. The ground shook again, accompanied by the booming screech of what could only be a Giant. Red or Iron, neither wanted to find out.

“Prompto, can you get out?” Gladio suddenly asked, his voice hushed.

“Yeah, bu- oh hell no, I am not leaving you to get smashed by a Giant!” Prompto shot back, but Gladio only grabbed his shoulder (ow, okay there was something wrong with it) and squeezed.

“Get to the road and make the call! There’s no way I can get out and there’s no use for both of us staying. There’s a better chance if you run!” he snapped. The ground was beginning to shake, the vibrations becoming so strong that Prompto swore he saw two of Gladio for a moment.

            He could barely see the Giant coming for them out of the trees, it’s head and sword catching the light of each lightning strike. Definitely an Iron Giant, judging by the washed-out color. Gladio was right: there was no chance in hell they could both get out of this if he stayed.

            But like hell was he leaving Gladio.

“Hurry up and call Monica. I’ll distract it!” Prompto ordered, shoving his phone into Gladio’s hand and wiggling out of the broken window before Gladio could refuse him. He paid no mind to the glass that sliced and dug into his skin, but the persistent ache in his shoulder was worrying. But it was fine- he only needed one hand to shoot a flare and get the daemons away from the car.

            He slipped in the mud as he tried to dash from the car, feeling himself get sucked into the sludge with every step. The rain was coming down even harder, washing away any sort of stable ground he could have possibly used and threatening to send him falling into the deep pit of dark forest below. They hadn’t even made it to the bottom of the ditch and Prompto shuddered to think what would have happened had they not caught the rock.

            He looked up just as the Iron Giant came into view, trees snapping in its wake as it lumbered through the mud with ease. Smaller daemons danced around its feet, cackling and yipping as if they sensed dinner was soon to be served.

            It was now or never then, Prompto decided. A flash of bright light and he lifted his gun high into the air and squeezed the trigger, covering his eyes as the bright flare arced high into the sky and exploded. Blinding white light filled the air around him and the Regalia, sending smaller daemons skittering back into the forest. The Iron Giant only became enraged, howling as it lifted its sword high. Prompto tried to squeeze off several shots, to try and dissuade it or direct its attack from the Regalia but it did nothing. It only kept screaming and lumbering closer, swinging its weapon wildly to try and kill whatever it could.

            Prompto barely had time to send a final prayer to the Astrals when, as another line of lightning split the air, _it_ burst forth from the trees. He saw only a flash of wild yellow eyes and heard a deep, gurgling roar as the four-limbed creature from three nights ago collided with the Iron Giant. Its head was lowered, great antlers battering into daemon flesh and rending it with bony spines. The Iron Giant roared again, one great fist trying to beat at the creatures’ head while it flailed its sword. But the creature only roared in return and flung its head, pushing the Giant back into the trees. There was a sickening sound of flesh tearing as the Giant freed itself from the cryptid’s antlers, only for four arms to descend upon it. It was almost fascinating, in a gross, “damn nature is scary” kind of way, to watch as the beast grasped the Giants arms and pinned it, leaving the Giants neck and head vulnerable. Prompto had to look away, and could barely stop himself from vomiting as the tell-tale sound of bones snapping and flesh ripping filled the air. He didn’t even think daemons had enough of a physical form to eat but _always learning new things huh?_

The cackling of goblins caught Prompto’s attention again, beady eyes staring at him from the underbrush and baring glistening teeth. He barely had a chance to pull another gun from the Armiger before two lunged, wrapping themselves around one of his legs and his bad arm. He fought the urge to scream and kick them away and instead jammed the barrel of his firearm under one head and pulled, watching as the daemon on his arm disintegrated into smoke and slime. He fired again and then Prompto was free to turn and run in an attempt to put some distance between himself and his targets.

            He made it no more than a few feet when the mud finally claimed him, sucking his foot down and causing him to trip face-first into the ground. He twisted, trying to turn over and at least fire off any remaining bullets he had before the goblins descended upon him but they never came. He wiped the mud from his eyes to catch the sight of two vaguely four-legged creatures standing over a pile of goblin bodies, pulling apart limbs and heads as if it were nothing. His stomach rolled as the two _things_ turned to him, a multitude of eyes locked onto him. They were no bigger than a voretooth, but something felt _off_ about them in the same way the other _thing_ felt off.

            They made no move to approach though, and slowly went back to eviscerating the smoking remains of daemon bodies.

“Guess I’ll… leave you to your meal then,” Prompto tried to joke, more of an attempt to ease his own frazzled nerves as he stood and tried to back his way up the cliff side. He didn’t dare to turn his back to them, even if they had technically saved his skin.

           

There was the roar of an engine as Prompto drew close to the road, and headlights came into view above his head. He cautiously peeked over the guard rail, only to be met with the surprising sight of the Regalia on the road with Gladio in it. He looked panicked, judging by the way he was death gripping the steering wheel and the lack of color on his face. It made the dirt and blood smeared across him stand out in stark comparison.

“Gladio! How did you get the car back up?”

“I’ll explain later but you need to get in _now_!”

            Prompto wasn’t going to argue with that. He sprinted over to the car and slid into the backseat, where there was minimal glass and mud everywhere. The tires squealed in protest as Gladio hit the gas, throwing water up into the air as they started speeding down the road again. Prompto risked a look behind them and nearly swore, fumbling to grab his camera from the Armiger.

            Standing on the road behind them was the antler bearing creature, staring after them with all dozen of its eyes and streaked with what Prompto could guess was daemon essence. He only grabbed a few shots before he lost sight of it as Gladio sped around a bend in the road. They were blurry and hard to make out but now he had some _proof_ , plus now Gladio _had_ to believe him- hell, he had just experienced everything first hand!

            Prompto was going to get to the bottom of this, even if it was the last thing he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am fueled by comments and Dr.Pepper.... and pasta


End file.
